Why isn't surround sound more popular with Audiophiles?

[ar surround]

Remember way back when? These were typical “audiophile” systems consisting of separates. Not cheap, but affordable and still considered an audiophile system...compared to mom and dad’s Magnificent Magnavox anyway. Nowadays, only the uber-expensive stuff seems to be deemed audiophile grade.

Early 70s entry level audiophile:
Dynaco PAT-4 preamp
Dynaco FM-5 tuner
Dynaco Stereo 80 power amp
Dual 1218 turntable
AR 2ax speakers (or KLH equivalents)

But the hot shot audiophiles had:
Dynaco PAT-4 preamp
Dynaco FM-5 tuner
Dynaco Stereo 120 power amp
Dual 1229 turntable
AR 3a speakers (or KLH equivalents)

Super hot shot audiophiles:
Stuff one couldn’t afford anyway...just like nowadays.

 

[par4ken]

Remember way back when? These were typical “audiophile” systems consisting of separates. Not cheap, but affordable and still considered an audiophile system...compared to mom and dad’s Magnificent Magnavox anyway. Nowadays, only the uber-expensive stuff seems to be deemed audiophile grade.

Early 70s entry level audiophile:
Dynaco PAT-4 preamp
Dynaco FM-5 tuner
Dynaco Stereo 80 power amp
Dual 1218 turntable
AR 2ax speakers (or KLH equivalents)

But the hot shot audiophiles had:
Dynaco PAT-4 preamp
Dynaco FM-5 tuner
Dynaco Stereo 120 power amp
Dual 1229 turntable
AR 3a speakers (or KLH equivalents)

Super hot shot audiophiles:
Stuff one couldn’t afford anyway...just like nowadays.

I wouldn't consider anyone to be an "audiophile" unless he uses separates!!

 

[EricKalet]

Here is another reason...audiophiles are too busy fighting over whether earbuds can be "audiophile" and they even get to debating $7000 ear buds!! WTF!!

 

[barfle]

Im an Emotiva fanboy, but I also had customer service issues. Not bad, but not necessary either. I like the gear though. What were your experiences? Do you have thier Atmos in ceiling speakers as well?

At the moment, my only Emotiva products are the three Pro Stealth 8s across the front of my room. I bought them directly from Emotiva about six or seven years ago, and about a year ago I noticed that one of them had almost no bass. I contacted them about getting service, and they said that they had no service system in place for items that were no longer in warranty, but sent me the schematics. I tried several places where I live (Boise, ID area) to see if they would fix it, and finally found someone who said they would. He basically replaced every aluminum electrolytic cap in the system and charged me about $300 to do it. Considering that there are Emotiva Pro Stealth 8s listed on ebay for $1700 each, that's not too bad, but the lack of support from Emotiva has me wondering if I want to buy their multichannel amplifiers once budget permits it.

I have Yamaha speakers mounted in my ceiling for Atmos, but at the moment they are undriven. As I was building my room, I decided that it would be far better to install them as part of the build rather than trying to retrofit something else.

 

[LuvMyQuad]

At the moment, my only Emotiva products are the three Pro Stealth 8s across the front of my room. I bought them directly from Emotiva about six or seven years ago, and about a year ago I noticed that one of them had almost no bass. I contacted them about getting service, and they said that they had no service system in place for items that were no longer in warranty, but sent me the schematics.

Wow. That knocks them down a major notch on my list. I know thier warranties are longer term than many, but still. To not offer a service option for out of warranty products is just wrong and not a good fit for the brand they are trying to become.

 

[jimfisheye]

Speaking of warranties...
Separate components sure makes warranty service a lot simpler! After warranty as well.

A lot of this is being frugal actually. Not having everything bundled into one box leads to not duplicating bits and not getting extra bits you didn't really need.

 

[~dave~~wave~]

The new Lexus commercial caught my eye.
They equate audiophile with other passions like foodie.

Rather than casting actors, the campaign features eight micro-influencers.
The first spot, “Names,”moves quickly through people from different walks of life who introduce themselves by the names they’ve earned—be it sneakerhead, gamer or audiophile.

I got a kick out of this guy, because he's hands on with buttons and knobs, creating.
The vintage analog voltage-controlled synth on the right of the screen is a Korg MS-20, the first one I got and still have.
He has a disco ball along with the sagging shelves of vinyl, me a lava lamp and black light posters.

 

[Titch]

I remember seeing an advertisement for B & W Nautilus speakers, back in the '80's. They cost a fortune, even back then. Only people who have a Salvador Dali Mae West Lips Sofa in their living room, would kit out their audiophile rack with something so ridiculous. Not even Brian Eno would do it.

 

[Jim the Oldbie]

The Nautilus are definitely, irrefutably, audiophile speakers.

Saw a pair on display once at Summer CES, back when it was still in Chicago (I miss going to those). But they weren't connected to anything - just sitting there looking sexy - so I never got to hear them! Like many of my sexual experiences in those days, it was very frustrating.

 

[DuncanS]

The Nautilus are definitely, irrefutably, audiophile speakers.

Saw a pair on display once at Summer CES, back when it was still in Chicago (I miss going to those). But they weren't connected to anything - just sitting there looking sexy - so I never got to hear them! Like many of my sexual experiences in those days, it was very frustrating.

Still available... but at a price

 

[Jeffrey Michael]

At the moment, my only Emotiva products are the three Pro Stealth 8s across the front of my room. I bought them directly from Emotiva about six or seven years ago, and about a year ago I noticed that one of them had almost no bass. I contacted them about getting service, and they said that they had no service system in place for items that were no longer in warranty, but sent me the schematics. I tried several places where I live (Boise, ID area) to see if they would fix it, and finally found someone who said they would. He basically replaced every aluminum electrolytic cap in the system and charged me about $300 to do it. Considering that there are Emotiva Pro Stealth 8s listed on ebay for $1700 each, that's not too bad, but the lack of support from Emotiva has me wondering if I want to buy their multichannel amplifiers once budget permits it.

I have Yamaha speakers mounted in my ceiling for Atmos, but at the moment they are undriven. As I was building my room, I decided that it would be far better to install them as part of the build rather than trying to retrofit something else.

Probably not the correct thread to discuss this but since Emotiva has been brought up:

I’m using a Stealth 8 pair for my front monitors in my surround system. I’m not using a center channel speaker for now. I was using a pair of Airmotiv 4s for my center for a few weeks up to a few days ago but they just sounded too small. I swapped out my pair of Airmotiv 4s that I was using with a sub in my bedroom system with my side surround Stealth 6 and put my sub back into my Home Theater system along with using the Airmotiv 4s as my side surround speakers.

I’ve been waiting to find another Stealth monitor single or pair for sale to use as my center. I saw a guy selling a single Stealth 8 in Florida but shipping to California is too expensive. So, I offered him $500 shipped but he said no. He offered to split the shipping cost but I stayed firm at $500 and ended up with nothing. The guy on eBay selling that pair of Stealth 8 is nuts. That pair has been listed for a few months now and he wanted over two grand but lowered the price a couple of times already. Today’s going rate for the Stealth 8 is between $750 to $900 with some listings around $1,000. I hear that there’s been many problems with Emotiva’s active monitor line. The only warranty I have left (about 3 years) is with my pair of Stealth 8. I have been very happy with my Emotiva active monitors. To have a separate amp driving each driver does make a difference over passive speakers and an amp.

My opinion and others (as seen on the Emotiva Forum) is I’m not so sure I want to purchase anything from them again if they won’t fix their products out of warranty. Their passive speakers would be the exception.

Getting back on topic. As the title of this thread is asking, I feel the reason is an Audiophile would rather spend as much money as they can on a two channel system and save themselves the space issue that comes along with adding speakers and speaker cable. In many ways, I enjoy my two channel system more for its simplicity and having any two channel music available, as opposed to surround mixes. And besides, I only have two ears! Cha cha cha chaaaaaa!

 

[barfle]

The guy on eBay selling that pair of Stealth 8 is nuts. That pair has been listed for a few months now and he wanted over two grand but lowered the price a couple of times already. Today’s going rate for the Stealth 8 is between $750 to $900 with some listings around $1,000. I hear that there’s been many problems with Emotiva’s active monitor line. The only warranty I have left (about 3 years) is with my pair of Stealth 8. I have been very happy with my Emotiva active monitors. To have a separate amp driving each driver does make a difference over passive speakers and an amp.

My opinion and others (as seen on the Emotiva Forum) is I’m not so sure I want to purchase anything from them again if they won’t fix their products out of warranty. Their passive speakers would be the exception.

I bought my Stealth 8s for $700 each, as I recall, new from Emotiva. Yes, those units on eBay are not worth the price the seller is asking, and for certain I wouldn't have bothered with them if they had cost that much new.

And now, my other two speakers are sounding weak. And I don't have the $600 to get them fixed, even though I have confidence in the guy who did it.

My old University E8s (1973 pre-production prototypes) are starting to look like a better fit.

 

[Miker1102]

I don't know the definition of audiophile really. I learned about digital sound codecs from remuxing movies on my computer. It's only been the last few months where I started getting into loseless sound. I had an old sony bd player that I can used to play DFF files on it from SACD isos and It's been fun listening to some really good music in high rez and Blu-ray as well. My next step is an upgrade for 4k hdr. To me, it seems that the gaming culture is driving people back to sound because of the immersive effects. I admit a new system isn't cheap, but it will do everything except wash the dishes. My wife really enjoys 5.1 and surround as well.

 

[Titch]

I don't know the definition of audiophile really. I learned about digital sound codecs from remuxing movies on my computer. It's only been the last few months where I started getting into loseless sound. I had an old sony bd player that I can used to play DFF files on it from SACD isos and It's been fun listening to some really good music in high rez and Blu-ray as well. My next step is an upgrade for 4k hdr. To me, it seems that the gaming culture is driving people back to sound because of the immersive effects. I admit a new system isn't cheap, but it will do everything except wash the dishes. My wife really enjoys 5.1 and surround as well.

Exactly. Ever since the first iPod, music for 99.99% of people has been based on MP3 files at 128 kbs, played on computer speakers. It's through home theatre set-ups that people discover that there is actually more to be heard.

 

[sixandnine]

Skimming this thread and the video that prompted it, I was reminded of this article I read yesterday: An audio engineer explains why Dolby Atmos Music is “definitely going to supersede stereo”

 

[proufo]

Skimming this thread and the video that prompted it, I was reminded of this article I read yesterday: An audio engineer explains why Dolby Atmos Music is “definitely going to supersede stereo”

I guess this is not for pros...

Will there be unintended consequences? You bet.

How come Dolby in 2021 is a "noise reduction specialist"?

 

[jimfisheye]

Haha! It sure as hell isn't going to supersede anything if they continue to refuse to release the decoder codec and market it alongside cheapness garbage like soundbars! lol

 

[proufo]

Haha! It sure as hell isn't going to supersede anything if they continue to refuse to release the decoder codec and market it alongside cheapness garbage like soundbars! lol

Regular people go gaga if the logos match. Kudos to Dolby.

 

[doity]

Audiophiles, I mean the ones who go to extremes to supposedly make their system better, are just plain nuts. Have you seen that Athens Audiophile Club documentary? The guy who wouldn’t let his speaker wires hit the ground and the guy who went on about power being 50% of the sound....”230, 230, 230, everyone knows that.”

I equate those types like a classical music snob who will only listen to classical music. Fine if that is what you like but don’t use it as a weapon to seem intellectually superior. I like 2 channel and 4 channel. It’s all good. To me I have more respect for a guy who spent five grand 30 years ago on a decent system and held on to it and still enjoys it. I don’t know about you but I just get uncomfortable watching some of those audiophile dudes. It is almost like watching a compulsive gambler who doesn’t know when to quit but is sure the “big payoff” is just around the bend. They are in so deep and have lost all sense of perspective.

 

[ar surround]

Love your imagery, @doity